Hello Kai,
Many thanks for being in touch with the forum, and now that we have more valuable information, it’s justifiable that the forum has sympathy with your plight.
Obviously there is isn’t any doubt that the car is under warranty, and it understood that the issue was indeed brought to the dealer/manufacturer’s attention while still under the manufacturer’s warranty, which proceeded your extended warranty.
It is indeed justifiable to believe that a clutch should last longer than 25k miles, and certainly 21K when first noticed - with the caveat, as Cliff points out - you don’t have any experience of how the car was driven in the 17k miles before you owned it.
The hard fact to swallow is that clutches are not covered under the manufacturer’s warranty since they are rightly claimed to be wearing parts. I guess you would need to prove that the issue in your case, is not one of wear, but premature failure of a critical component - impossible without stripping down, and even more difficult to prove (in caps) at that time.
Yes, you could challenge the warranty, but that can be costly in terms of specialist advice/inspection reports, appearances at court - all of which adds up and will certainly be time consuming in vehicle-off-the-road time.
You don’t share with us, the (subsidised) costings which the Audi dealer has agreed, but it might be worth you considering that VAG clutch component prices to buy, are very high, so the ‘they pay for parts, you pay for labour’ may be a better compromise that the vice versa situation.
OK, pessimistic overall view, but this may be the best deal you are going to get, without engaging in protracted battle, but of course, it’s up to you to decide whether you wish to compromise ,or put up a reasonable fight.
Perhaps you could let us know what you decide Kai.
Kind regards,
Gareth.